Dead goose knocks out hunter on Maryland’s Eastern Shore

A dead goose fell from the sky and knocked a 51-year-old hunter unconscious on Maryland’s Eastern Shore.

The incident happened around 5 p.m. Thursday near the 25000 block of Voit Road in Easton, near the Miles River. Robert Meilhammer, of Crapo, Md., was hunting with three others for waterfowl when someone in the group fired on a flock of Canada geese overhead.

One of the geese fell and hit Meilhammer, knocking him out and causing head and facial injuries, according to Candy Thomson, a spokeswoman for the Maryland Natural Resources Police.

Natural Resources police officers, local sheriff deputies and EMS responders transported Meilhammer by ambulance to an airport and airlifted him to a shock trauma unit.

When Meilhammer came to, he knew who he was but “little else,” said a Natural Resources police officer. Emergency responders with Talbot County described Meilhammer’s head injury as “severe.” The dead goose also knocked out two of his teeth.

Attempts to reach Meilhammer were unsuccessful.

Canada geese can weigh about 12 pounds and have a wing span reaching up to six feet. In Maryland, there are two types of geese: migratory geese, which fly north in the spring to breed; and resident geese, which are sometimes called “golf course geese,” that live in the area year-round.